What began as a record of everything I read for one year quickly turned into a place to connect with other book lovers over our shared passion. I'm so glad that I discovered the book blogging world! Please visit as often as you like, and feel free to chime in with your opinions any time.

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Who AM I?

That's a good question ... I'm a daughter, a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend ... and there's so much more! But for the purpose of this blog I am a first and foremost a reader.

When I was in the first grade I read The Hobbit and my love of Fantasy took root. By the time I left elementary school I had completed the entire series as well as The Belgariad by David Eddings. Seventh grade brought me the beginning of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series ... which is still not complete. High school and college introduced me to the classics and to history. My reading disappeared for several years when I had a child. Then I started a book club and it came back in full force.

Today I read anything that catches my eye ... at the moment that includes historical fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, and any titles I find interesting. I'm always on the lookout for the next great find ... any suggestions?

BBAW '09: Winner of Best History/Historical Fiction Blog

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Dancing With The Stars - Parental Concerns

I don't usually comment on TV shows and other pop culture stuff on my blog, but I do want to say something about this season of Dancing With the Stars. WHAT WERE THE PRODUCERS THINKING?!?!?!

The show is billed as "family friendly" so I assume that I'm not the only one who watches this with my kiddo. We usually record it then watch it together the following day. This was the first time that I've been concerned about the content of the show - big time.

Here are my three issues - and they all have to do with the "stars" ...

Lil Kim - She's a rapper who has been in jail. Ok, that's not really all that bad - lots of famous people have been in jail. But maybe, since this IS a family show, she could say something about how jail made her a better person, helped her turn her life around, etc. (I don't know if any of this is true, but I'm sure she could find SOMETHING to say) ... rather than giving a "shout out" to all "her girls" in the state penitentiary!
Kiddo's reaction: "Mom, she was in JAIL?!"
Me: "Yes baby, she did something wrong and she had to go to jail for it." Oh how I would have loved to follow this up with a positive statement, but I couldn't.

Steve-O - He's from the tv show Jackass. I know I'm a prude compared to most other people but I seriously do not ever use cuss words. I've been known to say "damn" and "hell" but that is the worst thing that comes out of my mouth. So it has always bothered me that there is a tv show with the name Jackass. That's not a word I want kiddo (he's 7!) familiar with for now. But it is sort of impossible to avoid when we're watching a show like this.
Kiddo's reaction: There was none - he happened to be in the bathroom when Steve-O was introduced so I was able to fast forward a bit.
Me: I AM happy with Steve-O's statements though. He talked about how he was abusing drugs and alcohol for a long time but that he's been clean and sober for 1.5 years and he's doing the show to prove he can still do crazy things even sober. That is the kind of positive statement I was hoping for from Lil Kim.

Holly Madison - She's been in Playboy Magazine - that is her main claim to fame.
Kiddo's reaction: "Ooh, I want to vote for her. She's been in a magazine!"
Me: "Baby, that's not really that great of a thing. See, she's only telling you she's been in a magazine because that is the main reason she's famous. All the other stars are so famous that they've been in tons of magazines, so they don't think it is that important to tell you about it."
Kiddo: "Oh, well, ok, but I still want to vote for her."
Me: So what exactly am I supposed to say to that people?! I am NOT going to explain to my 7 yr old that she's famous for being NAKED in a magazine.

So producers - WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!

And to my readers - am I way off base here, expecting too much from a tv show?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've talkedbefore about how much kiddo loves music but I don't think I've mentioned his dancing skills. He asked me several months ago if he could take Irish Step Dance lessons. He knew he'd be one of the only boys in the program but he really wanted to do it anyway. He's been taking lessons now for just over 2 months and he loves it. His first recital was on March 1. Below is a short video of his dance - he's on the far right in the black pants. And remember, he's just a beginner!

I'm quite proud of him, needless to say.

And this is one of the main reasons we watch Dancing With the Stars together - because kiddo LIKES to dance.

Oh, and just in case you are concerned that dancing is "too girly" for kiddo (yes, we've been told that several times) I promise to post another video soon that shows him playing ice hockey.

11 comments:

I don't watch much of Dancing with the Stars, because my problem with it is, it seems like they pretty much dance naked. I don't get that.

Kiddo did great! And what would dancing be anyway with the guys? My daughter who is in a partnering class is complaining lately because there is not enough guys! I hope he goes far with the Irish dancing. It is the coolest thing.

I do not thinking dancing is too girly and cannot imagine anyone saying that. When I think of famous dancers the 2 that come to my mind the quickest are Michael Flatley and Baryshnikov - I dare anyone to call either of them girly. I'm glad your son is following his heart!

And about the show- some people are just trashy. Everyone is redeemable, yes, but some just choose to wallow in their trashiness, like Lil' Kim. Ugh. And I would have NO clue whatsoever about how to explain Holly Madison's "job" to my son, either. Sigh. I really, REALLY don't like the whole "porn stars have become mainstream media folk" garbage. Makes things very uncomfortable for us parents.

Yeah, they are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel to find people for DWTS which is a shame because A) as you said, it should be family friendly and B) it seems like everyone who does it genuinely has a good time and it's hugely popular so I'm surprised that they can't find bigger celebrities to do it. Bad decision on the network's part not to just edit out Li'l Kim's shout out.

The Playboy thing...ugh, I have no idea how to go about explaining that one. Let us know what you come up with.